Lost and Found

One

It was a clear, crisp morning. The sun was shining brightly, and though the air was cool as the wind blew through the large, evergreen trees, when in direct sunlight, it was warm. There was a smattering of clouds that would eventually burn off as the day fully warmed up. It was a picture perfect summer morning. Birds chirped pleasantly, singing their songs to no one in particular, as Leo followed the same path he always did while on his daily routine to check the border. It was his favorite part of his day because he, along with the other two on his team, would quietly and methodically secure their pack lands. It wasn’t the most glamorous job, not like being a warrior on Alpha Zane’s team, but it was enough to be a team leader. He knew that his job was vital to the safety of the pack and that he was the first line of defense were anything to happen.

“My end is clear,” Vern mind-linked to him and Nat, the third scout.

“Same here!” Nat’s voice chirped.

Leo was about to give the all clear as well, when something caught the corner of his eye. Without any hesitation, he ran towards it with concern. At first, he had thought nothing of it; for, as he got closer to it, he saw that it was only a pile of dirt. However, it was a fresh pile of dirt. It had not been there yesterday. And, there was something he didn’t recognize, barely protruding from it.

Then, it moved ever so slightly. Maybe it was the wind. He really wanted it to be the wind.

He only froze for half a second, ignoring the questions from his fellow pack members as they asked for his status update. Before he could even stop himself, Leo’s hands were roughly digging in the dirt, prying at the object that soon turned into a leg that was connected to a body. A dead body. It was a woman, though she barely looked like one and definitely didn’t smell like any one particular race. The woman was just skin and bones and had probably died from starvation. She was nude.

Dusting off his hands, Leo stood. He knew the woman deserved a proper burial, but Alpha Zane had strictly prohibited dealing with anyone outside of the pack. He figured he’d bury her properly and perhaps create a makeshift headstone for her in his spare time. He had seen that she wasn’t too far along in the decomposition period. It was odd to find a dead body, and he knew that he should report to Alpha Zane, even if nothing would come of it. He felt sad at knowing that her friends and family, if she had any, would never know what had become of her. She would remain a nameless ‘Jane Doe’ buried in a random forest, probably far from home.

Sighing and shaking his head, he began to cover the body until he heard a low voice coming from the other half of the dirt pile. His mind had explained the movement in the pile to be a part of rigor mortis from the dead woman; however, he knew that dead bodies did not make real sounds. Switching to the other side, he began digging and found yet another body. This one was wearing a tattered, pale pink sundress, or rather, the remnants of one. Wiping away the dirt from her face, her eyelids flew open, revealing bright blue eyes that locked onto his brown ones.

“H–help,” she half muttered, half coughed before her eyes shut and she went limp.

Leo pulled her from the dirt and held her in his arms. She weighed almost nothing as she, too, was barely skin and bones. He noticed deep bruising on her arms and face, and her leg had a large gash that was clearly infected.

Two sets of footsteps approached him from behind. “What the hell is happening?” Vern yelled as Leo turned towards both him and Nat.

Vern was a tall and well-built man with brown hair and eyes to match. He had ambitions of becoming one of Alpha Zane’s personal warriors, which meant proving himself in battles with fellow pack members, rogues, and any other tests that the Alpha threw at them. He had his arms crossed in a disapproving stance.

Nat, on the other hand, was a shorter and toned woman, who had stumbled into the pack as a former rogue. She had proven her loyalty and been awarded with perimeter security. She was content with her role, feeling like it was enough for the alpha to trust an outsider with such a task. Her dirty-blond hair was neatly pulled back into a ponytail and her light brown eyes stared at Leo with both interest and wariness.

“What do you think you’re doing, Leo?” Vern asked harshly.

“She’s alive,” he answered sharply, standing with the woman nestled to his chest. “I won’t leave her here to die.”

Vern blocked his way. “Yes, you will. You know the rules. For all we know, she could be a hunter or who knows what. Alpha won’t allow it. It’s not safe to bring that thing to the pack. It also has a weird smell.”

“And you’re going to stop me?” Leo growled, his eyes flashing with warning.

No matter how much Vern wanted to deny it, Leo was simply the better fighter. In fact, Vern couldn’t understand why Leo had refused Alpha Zane's offer to join his team. Leo was an incredible fighter, as he was agile while being built like a tank. He was almost as tall as Alpha Zane, with powerful forearms and strong legs, and yet, he was fast and quick. Faster and stronger than Vern.

“If I have–”

“Stop it. Both of you,” Nat quipped at them. “Leo is going to do what he thinks is right, and he’ll take the full blame for his decision, right?”

“Yes, I’ll even say you both attempted to stop me.”

Nat stepped to the side. “Then off you go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Vern reluctantly allowed Leo to pass, as he made his way to the pack hospital. The other two quickly disappeared as he went straight towards the only place that could help her. He knew what he was doing was risky and could even get him kicked out of the Jade Forest Pack, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to leave her behind. In her cry for help, Leo knew she was a fighter, and he wanted to fight for her as well.

The pack hospital was small, but functional. It had five rooms in total, as it had been converted from a house. The main room was the reception area, where Lily usually sat, doing odd jobs until she could assess the initial issue. Three other rooms held gurneys for recovering patients, one room was considered the operating room, and the final room could be used as a recovery or operation room, depending on the needs. The basement was used as morgue. Thankfully, there only needed to be two or three hospital staff, including Doctor Bre, but many more within Alpha Zane’s pack were trained in case of emergencies. Doctor Bre had a yearly refresher about first aid.

Lily looked up at him as he burst through the door. “What’s this?”

“I need the Doc immediately. I found her at the border. She’s barely alive and badly wounded,” Leo stated.

Without another word, Lily rushed from the desk, leading him to the operating room as she called for the doctor. Bre emerged from another room a few moments later and watched as Leo gently set the woman down.

“Tell me what you know,” she said, slipping gloves onto her hands.

“Unknown female. Malnourished, infected wound on her upper right thigh, and deep bruising on her upper torso and arms. I found her buried in a dirt pile next to another woman who was already deceased.”

“Did you bring the other woman?”

Leo stuttered, “Uh, n-no.”

“I’ll assess this woman. You get the other one. Deceased or not, she could give us insight into how to treat this one.”

“Yes, m’am,” Leo said, immediately turning from the room to fetch the first woman he’d found.

It didn’t take him long to reach the site as he thought all about how to best explain the situation to the Alpha when he inevitably found out what was going on. There was no way that Leo could hide this from him, though, nor was he attempting to. It was just complicated, and both Leo and Zane hated complicated.

He could already feel the future headache coming on from the dreaded conversation. However, all of that fled his mind when his eyes searched once and then twice for the dead body. He dropped to his knees to search the dirt, thinking that perhaps he hadn’t remembered covering her back up. No matter how hard he searched, though, she simply wasn’t there.

“Nat,” he desperately mind-linked. “Did you or Vern move that dead body or bury it somewhere or do something with it?”

“What? No,” she replied quickly. “Why? What’s up?”

“You’re sure about Vern?”

Leo could almost hear her sigh. “Yes, he hasn’t been out of my sight since you left us. We left the body in the dirt.”

Feeling uneasy, Leo’s eyes scanned the forest. If they hadn’t moved the body, then that meant someone had watched them discover the women and didn’t want the other body taken away.